Method and apparatus for iris recognition

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for recognizing an iris is provided. The method includes acquiring an image from an iris recognition camera in response to receiving a request for iris recognition, displaying a preview image including an iris recognition area corresponding to the iris recognition camera acquired from a regular camera in response to detecting an iris in the acquired image and obtaining information for the detected iris from the iris recognition camera and performing iris recognition using the information for the detected iris.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/865,898, filed on Sep. 25, 2015, now U.S. Pat.No. 10,204,266, issued Feb. 12, 2019, and claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119(a) to a Korean Patent Application filed on Sep. 25, 2014,in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial No.10-2014-0128502, the content of each of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus forrecognizing an iris, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatusfor recognizing an iris by using a plurality of cameras.

2. Description of the Related Art

An electronic apparatus may store information related to privacy, suchas user location information, notes, financial transactions, etc., aswell as data such as contacts, call history, messages, etc. In order toprotect such information related to privacy, the electronic apparatusmay be provided with various security functions. In particular, a methodfor maintaining the security of an electronic apparatus by using userbiometric information has been widely used. Such a method formaintaining the security of an electronic apparatus by using biometricinformation may include fingerprint recognition, face recognition, irisrecognition, etc.

In particular, iris recognition is an authentication technology forsecurity purposes that uses characteristics of the iris which differamong individual. In addition, iris recognition may be accomplished byusing a camera without any direct physical contact. Further, even in thecase of wearing glasses or contact lenses, a person may be accuratelyidentified using iris recognition.

However, since infrared rays are utilized when recognizing the iris, aniris recognition camera typically obtains an iris image in black andwhite. When the obtained iris image in black and white is previewed on ascreen, the usability for user recognition may be degraded as theobtained image is different from the actual image of the physical eyes.In addition, when the iris image in black and white is displayed on thescreen of an electronic apparatus, the image may be photographed througha screen capture function and may be divulged to other users.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been made to address at least the problems andthe disadvantages described above, and to provide at least theadvantages described below.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a methodand an apparatus for recognizing an iris, the latter of which isequipped with two cameras to perform iris recognition.

Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention is to provide anelectronic apparatus that performs iris recognition using an irisrecognition camera, and displays an iris area as a color image identicalwith the image of a user's eye by using a regular camera, therebyimproving usability.

Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention is to provide amethod and an apparatus for recognizing an iris which displays an irisrecognition area on a screen when detecting a command to request theiris recognition, thereby enhancing a recognition rate of iris.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method ofrecognizing an iris in an electronic apparatus is provided. The methodincludes displaying a preview image by driving a regular camera,displaying an iris recognition area corresponding to an iris recognitioncamera in the preview image, determining whether an iris image exists inthe iris recognition area, and obtaining image information from the irisrecognition camera and performing iris recognition, when the iris imageexists in the iris recognition area.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofrecognizing an iris in an electronic apparatus is provided. The methodincludes displaying a preview image by driving a regular camera, whenreceiving a command to request iris recognition, obtaining an eye areafrom the preview image and displaying the obtained eye area as an irisrecognition area, determining whether an eye image exists in the irisrecognition area, driving an iris recognition camera, when the eye imageexists in the iris recognition area, and obtaining image informationfrom the iris recognition camera and performing iris recognition.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusfor recognizing an iris is provided. The apparatus includes an irisrecognition camera, which includes an infrared light emitting diode,configured to obtain an iris image, a regular camera configured todisplay a preview image, and a controller configured to display thepreview image by driving the regular camera, display an iris recognitionarea corresponding to the iris recognition camera in the preview image,determine whether the iris image exists in the iris recognition area,and obtain image information from the iris recognition camera andperform iris recognition when the iris image exists in the irisrecognition area.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, anelectronic apparatus is provided. The electronic apparatus includes aniris recognition camera, which includes an infrared light emittingdiode, configured to obtain iris image information, a regular cameraconfigured to display a preview image, and obtain an eye image. and acontroller configured to display the preview image by driving theregular camera when receiving a command to request iris recognition,obtain an eye area from the preview image and display the obtained eyearea as an iris recognition area, determine whether the eye image existsin the iris recognition area, drive the iris recognition camera when theeye image exists in the iris recognition area, and obtain imageinformation from the iris recognition camera and perform irisrecognition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicapparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an iris recognitioncamera, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are graphs illustrating an infrared light emitting diodehaving a specific wavelength band and a signal of band pass filter,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating front perspective views of anelectronic apparatus, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an image captured through aniris recognition camera and a regular camera, according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an infraredlight emitting diode depending on an iris location, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A to 12D are diagrams illustrating methods for controlling aninfrared light emitting diode depending on are iris location, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in detail. The same reference numbers are usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. Detaileddescriptions of well-known functions and structures incorporated hereinmay be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the presentinvention.

Meanwhile, it is noted that embodiments of the present inventiondescribed in the present specification and claims are given forillustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will appreciatethat various modifications, additions and substitutions are possiblewithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

An electronic apparatus, according to various embodiments of theinvention, may include at least one of a smartphone, a tablet PersonalComputer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-book reader, adesktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), an MP3 player, amobile medical device, a camera, or a wearable device (e.g.,Head-Mounted Display (HMD), such as electronic glasses, electronicclothes, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an electronicappcessory, an electronic tattoo, or a smartwatch).

In an embodiment of the present invention, an iris recognition arearefers to an area having a high accuracy of iris recognition, when auser performs iris recognition. The iris recognition area is displayedon a portion of a touch screen. When a user's iris does not exist in theiris recognition area, the user is guided so that the user's iris ismoved to the iris recognition area. The method for guiding the user mayinclude a voice event, a pop-up event, and a text event to indicate amovement in a specific direction.

In addition, the electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent invention may display an iris guide in the iris recognitionarea. The iris guide is a reference which informs a user about alocation of the iris in a displayed preview image. The iris guide may bedisplayed as an emoticon, an icon, a dotted line, etc., so as todifferentiate the area of the iris guide from other areas of the irisrecognition area (e.g., an area excluding the iris guide). When theelectronic apparatus detects that user's iris is located in the irisguide, iris recognition is performed. In addition, the iris guide may belocated in the center of an iris camera, but is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicapparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention, includes a communication unit 110,a storage unit 120, a touch screen 130, a sensor unit 140, a camera 150,and a controller 160.

The communication unit 110 performs a voice call, a video call, or datacommunication with an external device through a network. Thecommunication unit 110 may include a RF transmitter which up-convertsand amplifies a frequency of a transmitted signal and a RF receiverwhich low-noise amplifies a received signal and down-converts afrequency. In addition, the communication unit 110 may include amodulator and a demodulator. The modulator and the demodulator 110 mayinclude a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a Wideband CDMA (WCDMA),a Long Term Evolution (LTE), a Wi-Fi, a Wireless-Broadband (WIBRO), aBluetooth, a Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. The communication unit110 may be a mobile communication module, an Internet communicationmodule and/or a short range communication module.

The storage unit 120 includes a program memory for storing an operationprogram of the electronic apparatus and a data memory for storing datagenerated while a program is performed. In particular, the storage unit120 stores iris information and face information of user. In addition,the storage unit 120 stores photographing location information 121. Thephotographing location information 121 is information on an area whichis captured through an iris recognition camera 151 in a preview image.The information includes angle information and coordinate information(location information). The touch screen 130 may be configured of anintegral type including a display unit 131 and a touch panel 132. Thedisplay unit 131 displays various screens in accordance with the use ofthe electronic apparatus under the control of the controller 160. Inaddition, the display unit 131 is configured of a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD), an Organic Light Emitted Diode (OLED), an Active Matrix OrganicLight Emitted Diode (AMOLED), a Flexible Display, a Bended Display, a 3DDisplay, etc. In addition, display unit 131 may be configured in aflexible, transparent or wearable type. The touch panel 132 may be acomposite touch panel including a hand touch panel for detecting a handgesture and a pen touch panel for detecting a pen gesture.

In particular, the display unit 131 displays an area corresponding tothe photographing location information 121 stored in the storage unit120 in the preview image under the control of the controller 160. Thedisplay unit 131 displays an iris recognition area so that irisrecognition is easily performed under the control of the controller 160.In addition, the display unit 131 displays an iris guide in the irisrecognition area under the control of the controller 160.

The sensor unit 140 includes an iris sensor 141. The iris sensor 141scans a user's iris and transmits the scanned image of the user's iristo the controller 160.

The camera 150 performs the function of photographing a subject andoutputting to the controller 160. The camera 150 includes a lens whichcollects light, an image sensor which converts the light collected fromthe lens to an electrical signal, and an image signal processor whichprocesses the electrical signal inputted from the image sensor as rawdata and outputs to the controller 160.

In particular, the camera 150 includes the iris recognition camera 151and a regular camera 153.

In addition, the iris recognition camera 151 includes an infrared lightemitting diode 152. The infrared light emitting diode 152 emits light ofa certain frequency. In addition, the infrared light emitting diode 152emits the light as a continuous wave or synchronizes to an input frameof the image sensor to emit the light as a pulse. The infrared lightemitting diode 152 emits light of a specific wavelength range to theiris.

When the iris recognition camera 151 detects a command to request irisrecognition under the control of the controller 160, an iris imageilluminated by the light emitted from the infrared light emitting diode152 is obtained. The iris recognition camera 151 obtains the iris imageto transmit to the controller 160.

The regular camera 153 controls the image sensor under the control ofthe controller 160 to display a captured subject as a preview image. Thepreview image is an image that includes a whole or a part of a user'sface. In addition, the regular camera 153 may share at least a part ofan angle of view of the iris recognition camera 151.

The controller 160 controls the overall operation of the electronicapparatus and a signal flow between internal configurations of theelectronic apparatus, performs a data processing, and controls a powersupply to the above-described configurations from a battery.

In particular, the controller 160 includes an iris recognition module161.

When detecting a command to request recognition of a user's iris, thecontroller 160 drives the iris recognition camera 151 to determinewhether an iris exists. When the iris exists, the controller 160 drivesthe regular camera 153 to display a preview image. The controller 160controls the display unit 131 to display the iris recognition areacorresponding to the iris recognition camera 151 in the preview image.That is, the controller 160 displays the image area. That is, the irisrecognition area, including at least a part of the iris in the previewimage. In addition, the controller 160 controls the display unit 131 todisplay an iris guide which is image-processed so that only a shape ofthe iris is identified in the iris recognition area. The controller 160determines whether the iris image exists in the iris recognition area.When the iris image exists in the iris recognition area, the controller160 obtains iris image information through the iris recognition camera151. An operation of iris recognition is performed through the irisrecognition module 161 based on the obtained iris image information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an iris recognitioncamera, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the iris recognition camera 151, according to anembodiment of the present invention, includes a lens 205, a filter 207,and an image sensor 209, and includes an infrared light emitting diode152 and a light emitting diode (LED) driver on the outside of the irisrecognition camera 151.

The infrared light emitting diode 152 emits a light of a specificwavelength band according to the control of the LED driver. The infraredlight emitting diode 152 emits a light as a continuous wave orsynchronizes to an input frame of the image sensor to emit a light as apulse. It is assumed that the infrared light emitting diode 152,according to an embodiment of the present invention, synchronizes to aninput frame of the image sensor to emit a light as a pulse.

When an infrared light having a wavelength of a specific band is emittedthrough the infrared light emitting diode 152, the lens 205 receives alight reflected from an eye 201 and an iris 203. The light incident tothe lens 205 is transmitted to the filter 207 disposed in a rear side ofthe lens 205. The filter 207 includes an IR cut filter which transmitsonly a visible ray area without transmitting an infrared area or a bandpass filter which passes a wavelength of a specific band. It is assumedthat the filter 207, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, is a band pass filter.

The band pass filter may have a wavelength of a specific band emittedthrough the infrared light emitting diode 152. The band pass filter maypass a wavelength of a specific band from the incident light enteredfrom the lens 205. An infrared signal having the wavelength of aspecific band which has passed the band pass filter is transmitted tothe image sensor 209.

The image sensor 209 converts the infrared signal which has passed theband pass filter into a digital signal. The converted digital signal isprocessed by the iris sensor 141 to obtain an iris image.

The iris recognition camera 151, according to various embodiments of thepresent invention, may only include the lens 205 and the image sensor209. In this case, the image sensor 209 obtains an iris image by animage sensor of high resolution over a specific resolution.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, it was illustrated that the irisrecognition camera 151 and the infrared light emitting diode 152 areseparately provided, but is not limited thereto, and the infrared lightemitting diode 152 may be disposed inside of the iris recognition camera151. It is assumed that the electronic apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention, has a structure in which theinfrared light emitting diode 152 is disposed inside of the irisrecognition camera 151.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are graphs illustrating an infrared light emitting diodehaving a specific wavelength band and a signal of band pass filter,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, an infrared light of a specific wavelengthrange is emitted through the infrared light emitting diode 152, and theregular camera 153 receives the reflected light of the emitted infraredlight. A band pass filter having a wavelength range which includes atleast a portion of the specific wavelength band which is emitted throughthe infrared light emitting diode 152 is included in the irisrecognition camera 151. The band pass filter receives the infraredsignal of the specific wavelength range and transmits the receivedinfrared signal to the image sensor 209. The image sensor 209 convertsthe infrared signal of the specific wavelength range into a digitalsignal.

For example, as shown in 301 of FIG. 3A, the infrared light emittingdiode 152 emits an infrared light having a wavelength range of ±50 nmbased on 850 nm. A band pass filter may selectively receive a light ofwavelength range 850 nm±50 nm emitted from the infrared light emittingdiode 152 as shown in 303 of FIG. 3B. The band pass filter mayselectively receive the light of a specific wavelength range 850 nm±50nm, so that malfunction due to a light of near other infrared wavelengthrange is prevented.

FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating front perspective views of anelectronic apparatus, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the electronic apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention, is provided with the irisrecognition camera 151 for recognizing an iris and the regular camera153 for photographing a subject. The iris recognition camera 151 and theregular camera 153 are mounted on opposite sides of a receiver 401 in anupper portion of the electronic apparatus. The iris recognition camera151 may additionally include an infrared light emitting diode 152.However, the iris recognition camera 151 is not limited thereto and maynot include the infrared light emitting diode 152, when the irisrecognition camera 151 does not use an infrared light.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the iris recognition camera 151 and the regularcamera 153, according to various embodiments of the present invention,are mounted side by side so as to be adjacent to each other in a rightarea in the upper portion of the electronic apparatus, i.e. to the rightof the receiver 401. In addition, the iris recognition camera 151 andthe regular camera 153 may be mounted so as to be adjacent to each otherin a left area in the upper portion of the electronic apparatus, i.e. tothe left of the receiver 401.

Referring to FIG. 4C, the iris recognition camera 151 and the infraredlight emitting diode 152, according to various embodiments of thepresent invention, are mounted so as to be adjacent to each other in theleft area based on the receiver 401 in the upper portion of theelectronic apparatus to the left in the upper portion of the electronicapparatus, i.e. to the left of the receiver 401. In addition, theregular camera 153 is mounted in the right area in the upper portion ofthe electronic apparatus, i.e. to the left of the receiver 401.

Hereinafter, as in the case of FIG. 4A, in an embodiment of the presentinvention, it is assumed that the iris recognition camera 151 and theregular camera 153 are mounted on opposite sides of the receiver 401 inthe upper portion of the electronic apparatus. In addition, it isassumed that the iris recognition camera 151 includes the infrared lightemitting diode 152.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an image captured through aniris recognition camera and a regular camera, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the iris recognition camera 151 and theregular camera 153, according to an embodiment of the present invention,may have a different angle of view. The iris recognition camera 151,according to an embodiment of the present invention, may have a smallerangle of view than the regular camera 153 so as to obtain moreinformation of the iris area. In addition, the angle of view of the irisrecognition camera 151 and the regular camera 153 may include the samesubject in at least some area. In other words, the regular camera 153may share at least some area of the angle of view of the irisrecognition camera 151. In addition, the iris recognition camera 151 andthe regular camera 153 are mounted on opposite sides of the receiver 401in the upper portion of the electronic apparatus.

As described above, where the iris recognition camera 151 and theregular camera 153 have a different angle of view, the sizes of imageobtained by the iris recognition camera 151 and the regular camera 153are different from each other. Since the locations in which the irisrecognition camera 151 and the regular camera 153 are mounted in theelectronic apparatus are different from each other, even if the samesubject is photographed, the subject will appear at different locationsin the image.

In the iris recognition camera 151, the orientation of an image capturedby an image sensor is set so as to be horizontal (e.g., a direction inwhich a long axis of the image is located so as to be horizontal). Inthe regular camera 153, the orientation of an image captured by an imagesensor is set so as to be vertical (e.g., a direction in which a longaxis of the image is located so as to be vertical).

For example, when the eye (or the iris) 501 of a user is located in thecenter of the electronic apparatus, the image of the photographedsubject is emitted to the iris recognition camera 151 which is mountedin the left side of the electronic apparatus as shown in 151A, so thatthe eye 501 of the user is located in the right side in the enteredimage of the photographed subject as shown in 503.

In addition, when the eye 501 of the user is located in the center ofthe electronic apparatus, the image of the photographed subject isemitted to the regular camera 153 which is mounted in the right side ofthe electronic apparatus as shown in 153 a, so that the eye 501 of theuser is located in the left side in the entered image of thephotographed subject as shown in 505.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the iris recognitioncamera 151 and the regular camera 153 may be mounted to have an image ofthe same orientation. That is, the orientation of the image which iscaptured by the iris recognition camera 151 may be set so as to behorizontal (a vertical orientation), and the orientation of the imagewhich is captured by the regular camera 153 may be set so as to behorizontal (a vertical orientation) in the same manner

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the controller 160 detects a command to request therecognition of a user's iris at step 601. For example, when anapplication (e.g., a bank application) that requires security isexecuted, if a lock is released in a lock screen or in a lockedapplication, the controller 160 may detect the command to request therecognition of user's iris.

When detecting the command to request the recognition of the user'siris, the controller 160 drives the iris recognition camera 151 todetermine whether an iris exists at step 603. When the iris exists, thecontroller 160 drives the regular camera 153 and controls the displayunit 131 to display a preview image at step 607. The displayed previewimage may be an image which displays a subject which is captured throughthe regular camera 153. It is assumed that the preview image, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention, is an image which includes awhole or a part of a user face area.

The controller 160 displays an iris recognition area corresponding tothe iris recognition camera 151 in the preview image at step 609. Thecontroller 160 controls the display unit 131 to separately display theiris recognition area from an area excluding the iris recognition area.For example, the iris recognition area may be displayed with a dottedline so as to be distinguished from the area excluding the irisrecognition area.

The controller 160 may display the iris recognition area, which isextracted from the iris recognition camera 151, as a color image throughthe regular camera 153. As described above, the iris recognition camera151 emits infrared light through the infrared light emitting diode 152to obtain an iris image in black and white. When the iris image isdisplayed as a black-and-white image, the image may be photographed byusing a screen capture or the like, and may be leaked to other user. Inorder to prevent the image from being leaked to other users, the presentinvention may not display the iris image in black and white through theiris recognition camera 151 but may use the regular camera 153 topreview the area corresponding to the iris recognition camera 151,thereby enhancing security.

In other words, the controller 160 controls the display unit 131 todisplay the iris area which is captured by the iris recognition camera151 as a preview image through the regular camera 153. The preview imageis an image displaying a whole of a face area including the iris area,or an image displaying a part of a face area including the iris area.

An operation of displaying the iris recognition area corresponding tothe iris recognition camera 151 in the preview image at operation 609 isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7A to 9B.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the regular camera 153 may cut out aninput image to have the same shape as the preview image of the irisrecognition camera 151. The iris recognition camera 151 and the regularcamera 153 receive the input image along a horizontal axis. Whenreceiving the input image along the horizontal axis, the controller 160may cut out the input image according to the area of the touch screen130 in the horizontal orientation including at least a portion of anangle of view of the iris recognition camera 151 through the regularcamera 153. The controller 160 controls the display unit 131 to cut outthe input image according to the area of the touch screen 130 so that apreview image is displayed as shown in FIG. 7B.

In the area 151 a, which is captured through the iris recognition camera151, the controller 160 cuts out the area 153 a, which is capturedthrough the regular camera 153, as shown in 701, along the horizontalaxis according to the location of the user's eye 703. The location ofthe user's eye 703, which is captured through the iris recognitioncamera 151 and the regular camera 153, is identical. The controller 160controls the display unit 131 to display the iris recognition area inthe preview image 153 a which is captured through the regular camera153. The user sees the iris recognition area in the preview image andmay position the user's eye 703. In addition, as described above, thecontroller 160 displays the iris area photographed in black and white bythe iris recognition camera 151 as a color image through the regularcamera 153.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the regular camera 153may cut out the input image to have a different shape from the previewimage of the iris recognition camera 151. The iris recognition camera151 and the regular camera 153 may receive the input image along ahorizontal axis. The controller 160 may cut out the input imageaccording to the area of the touch screen 130 along the vertical axisincluding at least a portion of an angle of view of the iris recognitioncamera 151 through the regular camera 153. The controller 160 controlsthe display unit 131 to display the preview image which is cut accordingto the area of the touch screen 130.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in various embodiments of the present invention,the controller 160 displays an iris guide in the iris recognition area151 a. The iris guide 707 informs a user about the location of the iris.The controller 160 displays the iris guide 707 which is image processedsuch that only the shape of the iris is identified. In addition, theiris guide 707 may be displayed as an emoticon, an icon, a dotted line,etc., to differentiate the area of the iris guide 707 from other areasof the iris recognition area 151 a (e.g., the area excluding the irisguide 707). When the user's iris is positioned in the iris guide 707,the controller 160 performs the iris recognition immediately.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B, it is assumed that the iris guide 707,according to an embodiment of the present invention, is displayed in apreset location. The preset location may be a center area of the irisrecognition camera 151, because the iris may be recognized quickly andaccurately when the iris is located in the center of the irisrecognition camera 151.

Referring to FIG. 9A, the controller 160 guides a user so that theuser's iris 705 input to the iris recognition camera 151 is located inthe iris guide 707 displayed in the central area of the iris recognitioncamera 151. When the iris guide 707 is located in the center of the irisrecognition camera 151, the location of the iris input to the irisrecognition camera 151 is different from the location of the iris inputto the regular camera 153. Since the location of the iris input to theregular camera 153 is different from the location of the iris input tothe iris recognition camera 151 by a distance corresponding to adistance between the two cameras, the iris image is obtained at anoptimal location only when the user's eye 703 is moved.

Referring to FIG. 9B, the iris guide 707 may be distinguished by thedotted line so that the user's eye 703, which is inputted to the regularcamera 153, is positioned in a specific area of the left side in thepreview image 153 a.

Returning to the description of FIG. 6, the controller 160 determineswhether the iris image exists in the iris recognition area at step 611,and may decide whether the iris image exists in the iris recognitionarea at step 613. When the iris image exists in the iris recognitionarea, the controller 160 obtains iris image information from the irisrecognition camera at step 615. The controller 160 performs the irisrecognition based on the obtained iris image information at step 617.

On the other hand, when the iris image does not exist in the irisrecognition area, the controller 160 returns to step 611 and determinesagain whether the iris image exists in the iris recognition area. Inthis case, since the iris image does not exist in the iris recognitionarea, the controller 160 may decide whether the iris image exists in theiris recognition area as the user moves to obtain the iris locationagain. The controller 160 may repeat the step 611 and the step 613 untilthe iris recognition is accomplished. However, it is not limitedthereto. When the iris image does not exist in the iris recognition areaafter performing a certain number of iterations, the controller 160 mayterminate the iris recognition step.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the iris image does notexist in the iris recognition area at step 613, the controller 160 mayprovide a guide which guides the iris image so as to be positioned inthe iris recognition area. The guide indicates a direction to the userin order that the iris image of the user is positioned in the irisrecognition area. In an embodiment of the present invention, thecontroller 160 may provide a voice event for instructing the movement ofthe iris image to the iris recognition area, and an event for displayinga pop-up window or a text to instruct the movement to the irisrecognition area on the display unit 131.

For example, when the iris image of the user is located in the rightside of the iris recognition area, the controller 160 may provide avoice event “please move to the left” or an event for displaying apop-up window or a text on the display unit 131 so as to move the irisimage of the user to the iris recognition area located in the left sidein comparison with the location of the user's iris. The user mayposition the iris image in the iris recognition area through the event.

Step 603 of determining whether the iris exists is an operation ofobtaining a part of the user face area including the iris; that is,obtaining a wide area. In addition, the step 615 of obtaining imageinformation is an operation of obtaining a rather narrow area (e.g. onlythe iris) in comparison with the step of determining whether the irisexists.

The electronic apparatus, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, may perform the step of obtaining the iris area in anunsecured environment and the step of obtaining the iris image, in asecure environment.

That is, since it is difficult to restrict an operation of malicioussoftware in an unsecured environment, it may involve some risk toperform a biometric operation, such as iris recognition fingerprintrecognition, etc. which requires a high level security.

In a secure environment only a received command is executed to protectinitially input bio-data and corresponding information from a maliciouspurpose. Accordingly, performing a biometric operation, such as the irisrecognition, should be performed in a secure environment to preventsecurity problems due to malicious software.

Accordingly, in an embodiment of the present invention, obtaining a widearea, that is determining whether the iris exists, may be performed inan unsecure environment. While obtaining the image information andperforming the iris recognition are performed in a secure environment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, a flowchart illustrating a method that drives theregular camera 153 and obtains an eye area while displaying the previewimage, and performs the iris recognition by driving the iris recognitioncamera 151 when the eye exists in the eye area is provided.

Referring to FIG. 10, the controller 160 detects a command to requestthe recognition of a user's iris at step 1001.

The controller 160 drives the regular camera 153 and controls thedisplay unit 131 to display a preview image of the subject which iscaptured by the regular camera 153 at step 1003. The controller 160controls the display unit 131 to obtain an eye area in the preview imageand display the eye area as an iris recognition area at step 1005. Thecontroller 160 determines whether an eye image exists in the irisrecognition area at step 1007, and decides whether the eye image existsin the iris recognition area at step 1009. When the eye image exists inthe iris recognition area, the controller 160 drives the irisrecognition camera 151 to obtain iris image information at step 1011.The controller 160 performs iris recognition by using the iris imageinformation at step 1013.

On the other hand, when the eye image does not exist in the irisrecognition area at step 1009, the controller 160 returns to step 1007,and determines again whether the eye image exists in the irisrecognition area. In this case, since the eye image does not exist inthe iris recognition area, the controller 160 attempts to obtain the eyeimage again as the user moves, and determines and decides whether theeye image exists in the iris recognition area. The step 1007 and thestep 1009 may be repeated until the eye image exists in the irisrecognition area. However, it is not limited thereto. When the eye imagedoes not exist in the iris recognition area after performing a certainnumber of iterations, the controller 160 may terminate the irisrecognition operation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an infraredlight emitting diode depending on an iris location, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying apreview image according to a rolling shutter and controlling an infraredlight emitting diode 152 is provided. The rolling shutter refers to amethod of scanning an image which is displayed on the display unit 131line by line from top to bottom. The controller 160 adjusts the timingof a pulse of the infrared light emitting diode 152 and adjusts thelocation where the infrared light emitting diode 152 shines mostbrightly.

The operation of controlling the infrared light emitting diode 152depending on the iris location of FIG. 11 may be performed afterobtaining the iris location at step 611 of FIG. 6 or may be performedwhen the iris exists in the iris recognition area at step 613. Further,the operation of controlling the infrared light emitting diode 152depending on the iris location of FIG. 11 may be performed afterobtaining the eye location at step 1007 of FIG. 10 or may be performedwhen the eye exists in the iris recognition area at step 1009.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an image sensorincludes a plurality of lines. The plurality of lines includes aplurality of pixels. The plurality of lines included in the image sensorobtains image information sequentially, based on a driving signal (e.g.,a vertical synchronization signal) of the image sensor. For example, inthe plurality of lines included in the image sensor, exposure occurssequentially in order to obtain information on an output image. Wheneach pixel included in the image sensor is exposed sequentially, adifference of time occurs by line readout time between the exposure ofthe first pixel of a current line and the exposure of the first pixel ofthe next line. The line readout time refers to a time to store the imageinformation (e.g., the output image information corresponding to eachline) on subject obtained by each of the plurality of lines. The readouttime may be variously implemented depending on the characteristic of adesigner or an electronic apparatus.

When the length of the infrared light emitting diode 152 is shorter thanthe length from a start time of the exposure of the first pixel of thefirst line of the rolling shutter to the exposure time of the last pixelof the last line, the brightness of an upper line input to the irisrecognition camera 151 is different from the brightness of a lower line.

For example, when the infrared light emitting diode 152 emits light tothe top of the rolling shutter, the first line receives the largestamount of the infrared light and the time of receiving the infraredlight is decreased toward the next lines. That is, the controller 160outputs the brightest image in the upper line of the image input to theiris recognition camera 151.

As another example, when the infrared light emitting diode 152 emitslight to the middle of the rolling shutter, the middle line receives thelargest amount of the infrared light and the time of receiving theinfrared light is decreased toward the previous lines and the nextlines. That is, the controller 160 outputs the brightest image in themiddle line of the image input to the iris recognition camera 151.

As another example, when the infrared light emitting diode 152 emitslight to the bottom of the rolling shutter, the first line receives theleast amount of the infrared light and the time of receiving theinfrared light is increased toward the next lines. That is, thecontroller 160 outputs the brightest image in the lower line of theimage input to the iris recognition camera 151.

The controller 160 determines the location of a user's iris at step1101. The controller 160 determines the user's iris position, andcontrols the infrared light emitting diode 152 to adjust the timingand/or the amount of the infrared light emission according to thelocation of the user's iris.

As described above, in an embodiment of the present invention, the angleof view of the regular camera 153 may be relatively larger than theangle of view of the iris recognition camera 151. In this case, althoughthe iris is located in the outside of the angle of view of the irisrecognition camera 151, it may exist within the angle of view of theregular camera 153. The controller 160 controls the infrared lightemitting diode 152 so that the timing of infrared light emission isadjusted to emit light according to the location of the iris (e.g.,upper, lower, left or right side based on the iris recognition area)based on the iris recognition area. The controller 160 controls theinfrared light emitting diode 152 to adjust the timing of the lightemission to emit light, such that iris recognition is performed rapidly.

The controller 160 decides whether the iris image is located in theupper side of an angle of view of the regular camera 153 in comparisonwith the iris recognition area at step 1103.

When the iris image is located in the upper side of the angle of view ofthe regular camera 153 in comparison with the iris recognition area,then in step 1105, the controller 160 controls the infrared lightemitting diode 152 so that infrared light is emitted to the top of theframe.

FIGS. 12A to 12D are diagrams illustrating methods for controlling aninfrared light emitting diode depending on are iris location, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12A, when the iris image of the user's eye 703 islocated in the upper side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153in comparison with the iris recognition area 151 a, the controller 160controls the infrared light emitting diode 152 so that infrared light isemitted to the top of frame as shown in 120 lb. The controller 160controls a pulse of the infrared light emitting diode 152, as shown in1201 a, so as to be emitted to the top of frame so that the largestamount of infrared light is emitted to the upper line of the frame, asshown in 120 lb. The controller 160 guides to move the iris image in adownward direction, and performs iris recognition when the iris image islocated within the line 120 lb.

Referring back to FIG. 11, when the iris image is not located in theupper side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153 in comparisonwith the iris recognition area, the controller 160 decides whether theiris image is located in the lower side of an angle of view of theregular camera 153 in comparison with the iris recognition area, at step1107.

When the iris image is located in the lower side of the angle of view ofthe regular camera 153 in comparison with the iris recognition area,then in step 1109, the controller 160 controls the infrared lightemitting diode 152 so that infrared light is emitted to the bottom ofthe frame.

Referring to FIG. 12B, when the iris image of the user's eye 703 islocated in the lower side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153based on the iris recognition area 151 a, the controller 160 controlsthe infrared light emitting diode 152 so that infrared light is emittedto the bottom of frame, as shown in 1203 b. The controller 160 controlsa pulse of the infrared light emitting diode 152, as shown in 1203 a, soas to be emitted to the bottom of the frame so that the largest amountof infrared light is emitted to the bottom (lower) line of the frame, asshown in 1203 b. The controller 160 guides to move the iris image in anupward direction, and performs iris recognition when the iris image islocated within the line 1203 b.

Referring back to FIG. 11, when the iris image is not located in thelower side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153 in comparisonwith the iris recognition area, the controller 160 decides whether theiris image is located in the left side or the right side of the angle ofview of the regular camera 153 in comparison with the iris recognitionarea, at step 1111.

When the iris image is located in the left or the right side of theangle of view of the regular camera 153 in comparison with the irisrecognition area, then in step 1113, the controller 160 controls theinfrared light emitting diode 152 so that infrared light is emitted tothe middle of the frame.

Referring to FIGS. 12C and 12D, when the iris image of the user's eye703 is located in the right side or left side based on the irisrecognition area 151 a, the controller 160 controls the infrared lightemitting diode 152 so that infrared light is emitted to the middle offrame, as shown in 1205 b. The controller 160 controls a pulse of theinfrared light emitting diode 152, as shown in 1205 a, so as to beemitted to the middle of the frame so that the largest amount ofinfrared light is emitted to the middle line of the frame, as shown in1205 b. When the iris image is located in the right side of the angle ofview of the regular camera 153 based on the iris recognition area, asshown in FIG. 12C, the controller 160 guides to move the iris image in aleft direction, and performs iris recognition when the iris image islocated within the line 1205 b. Alternatively, when the iris image islocated in the left side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153based on the iris recognition area, as shown in FIG. 12D, the controller160 guides to move the iris image in a right direction, and performsiris recognition when the iris image is located within the line 1205 b.

Referring back to FIG. 11, when the iris image is not located in theleft side or the right side of the angle of view of the regular camera153 based on the iris recognition area, the controller 160 terminatesthe iris recognition operation. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, when the iris image is not located in the upper, lower, leftor right side of the angle of view of the regular camera 153 based onthe iris recognition area, the controller 160 does not perform theoperation of controlling the infrared light emitting diode 152.Alternatively, when the iris image is located within the irisrecognition area, the controller 160 performs the operation ofcontrolling the infrared light emitting diode 152.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the amount of lightemitted by the infrared light emitting diode 152 of the electronicapparatus may be adjusted. For example, when the iris image of a user isnot located within the angle of view of the regular camera 153, thecontroller 160 does not drive the infrared light emitting diode 152 orthe iris recognition camera 151. In addition, when the iris image of theuser is located within the angle of view of the regular camera 153, andis located outside of the angle of view of the iris recognition camera151, the controller 160 controls the infrared light emitting diode 152so that the amount of light emission is less than the amount of lightemission of the infrared light emitting diode 152 which is used for theactual iris recognition. In this case, the iris recognition camera 151is in a stand-by state. When the controller 160 detects that the irisimage of the user is located in the iris recognition area, thecontroller 160 drives the iris recognition camera 151 in the stand-bystate and performs iris recognition immediately. Accordingly, it ispossible to reduce the current consumption used for the light emissionof the infrared light emitting diode 152 and the driving of the irisrecognition camera 151.

In another embodiment of the present invention, when the iris image of auser is located within the angle of view of the regular camera 153, andis located within the angle of view of the iris recognition camera 151,the controller 160 drives the iris recognition camera 151, and controlsa pulse of the infrared light emitting diode 152 so as to be emitted andperform iris recognition.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method for recognizing an iris,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams illustrating a method for recognizing aniris according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13 and FIGS. 14A and 14B, in an embodiment of thepresent invention, the regular camera 153 is driven to perform facerecognition and when a user corresponding to the recognized face exists,the iris recognition camera 151 is driven to perform iris recognition.

That is, since the accuracy of face recognition is, in general,relatively low in comparison with the accuracy of iris recognition, inan embodiment of the present invention, an authentication process isperformed twice (e.g., perform iris recognition, after performing facerecognition), such that security can be enhanced.

The controller 160 detects the request of iris recognition at step 1301.The controller 160 drives the regular camera 153 to perform facerecognition, as shown in 1401 of FIG. 14A, at step 1303. The facerecognition is performed by extracting a face area from the subjectcaptured through the regular camera 153, and by obtaining faceinformation from the face area based on the distance and the shape of aneye, a nose, and a mouth. The controller 160 decides whether a usercorresponding to the obtained face information exists among the userface information registered and stored in the electronic apparatus, atstep 1305. When the user corresponding to the obtained face informationexists, the controller 160 drives the iris recognition camera 151 toperform iris recognition as shown in 1403 of FIG. 14B, at step 1307.Since the operation of performing iris recognition is identical to theabove described steps 611 to 617 of FIG. 6, a description thereof isomitted.

On the other hand, when the user corresponding to the obtained faceinformation does not exist, the controller 160 terminates the irisrecognition operation. That is, the controller 160 does not perform irisrecognition by not driving the iris recognition camera 151. It isillustrated that the iris recognition camera 151 is not driven when auser corresponding to the obtained face information among the registereduser face information does not exist, but it is not limited thereto andthe infrared light emitting diode 152 may not be driven.

The method and the apparatus for recognizing an iris in an electronicapparatus, according an embodiment of the present invention, displays aniris area captured from an iris recognition camera as a color imageidentical to an image of a user's eyes, by using a regular camera,thereby improving usability for the user.

In addition, the method and the apparatus for recognizing an iris in anelectronic apparatus, according an embodiment of the present invention,displays an iris recognition area on a screen, thereby performing theiris recognition accurately and quickly.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described indetail herein, it should be clearly understood that many variations andmodifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught which mayappear to those skilled in the present art will still fall within thespirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of recognizing an iris in an electronicapparatus, the method comprising: acquiring an image from an irisrecognition camera in response to receiving a request for irisrecognition; displaying a preview image including an iris recognitionarea corresponding to the iris recognition camera acquired from aregular camera in response to detecting an iris in the acquired image;and obtaining information for the detected iris from the irisrecognition camera and performing iris recognition using the informationfor the detected iris.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdisplaying an iris guide in a preset location of the iris recognitionarea.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the iris guide is located in amiddle area of the iris recognition camera, and is a reference whichinforms a user about a location of the iris image.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the iris guide is displayed as at least one of anemoticon, an icon, and a dotted line so as to be different from an areaexcluding the iris guide.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the previewimage is an image which displays a whole or a part of user's face andthe iris recognition area.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the previewimage is an image which is obtained and displayed by cutting the irisrecognition area corresponding to the iris recognition camera.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein performing iris recognition comprises:determining whether an iris image exists in the iris recognition area;obtaining the information for the detected iris from the irisrecognition camera when the iris image exists in the iris recognitionarea; and providing a guide which indicates a direction to move the irisimage into the iris recognition area, when the iris image does not existin the iris recognition area.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein anaccuracy for recognizing the iris in the iris recognition area is higherthan an accuracy for recognizing the iris in an area excluding the irisrecognition area.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein performing irisrecognition further comprises: determining a location of the iris image,wherein determining a location of the iris image comprises performing atleast one of: emitting light to a top of a frame, when the iris image islocated above the iris recognition area; emitting light to a bottom ofthe frame, when the iris image is located below the iris recognitionarea; and emitting light to a middle of the frame, when the iris imageis located to a left side or right side of the iris recognition area.10. An apparatus for recognizing an iris, the apparatus comprising: aniris recognition camera, which includes an infrared light emittingdiode, configured to obtain an iris image; a regular camera configuredto display a preview image; and a controller configured to acquire animage from the iris recognition camera in response to receiving arequest for iris recognition, display the preview image including aniris recognition area corresponding to the iris recognition cameraacquired from the regular camera in response to detecting an iris in theacquired image, and obtain information for the detected iris from theiris recognition camera and perform iris recognition using theinformation for the detected iris.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the regular camera is a camera which shares at least a portionof an angle of view of the iris recognition camera.
 12. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the iris recognition camera includes an image sensorconfigured to perform the iris recognition.
 13. The apparatus of claim12, wherein the infrared light emitting diode emits an infrared signalof a specific frequency band, and wherein the image sensor converts theinfrared signal of the specific frequency band, which is emitted by theinfrared light emitting diode and is reflected and is entered via a bandpass filter, into a digital signal.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein the controller displays the iris recognition area including theiris image corresponding to a physical distance between the irisrecognition camera and the regular camera.
 15. The apparatus of claim14, wherein the controller determines a location of the iris image, andemits light to a top of a frame when the iris image is located above theiris recognition area, emits light to a bottom of the frame when theiris image is located below the iris recognition area, and emits lightto a middle of the frame when the iris image is located to a left sideor right side of the iris recognition area.
 16. An electronic apparatuscomprising: an iris recognition camera, which includes an infrared lightemitting diode, configured to obtain iris image information; a regularcamera configured to display a preview image, and obtain an eye image;and a controller configured to display the preview image acquired fromthe regular camera in response to receiving a request for irisrecognition, perform face recognition, obtain an eye area from thepreview image and display the obtained eye area as an iris recognitionarea when information of a user corresponding to recognized faceinformation exists among user face information stored in the electronicapparatus, and obtain information for a detected iris from the irisrecognition camera in response to detecting an iris in the irisrecognition area and perform iris recognition using the information forthe detected iris.